The semi-weekly fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1887-10-07
QUEER THINGS In JAPAN.
GLIMPSES OF A FESTIVAL IN THE
STREETS OF YOKOHAMA.
Curious Articles That the Merchants
Sell on a Gala Day-A Japanese
TemnlP

W. J. Holland, the naturalist, in a let
ter from Yokohama, Japan, to the Phila-
delphia Press, says - Our kilograms
home having been dispatched, pro-
ceeded forth, under the guidance of Dir.
LOOMS, to see Yokohama by night. We
had scarcely turned the corner of the
hotel before my attention was attracted
by the sound of several gongs being
beaten at quick intervals, and looking
across the canal which separates the
quarter of the city occupied by Euro
peans from the native town, | saw
temple illuminated by a multitude of
japanese lanterns and throngs of men and
women swarming upon the streets.
whats up 2" l exclaimed. "Ah :"
said my friend, "you are quite in luck.
This is a chance you may not have again
for many days, or even a month. There
is matsuri or heather festival in progress.
The sound of the gongs comes from that
temple on the brow of the hill below in
the street the merchants are holding q
bazaar and selling their wares by lamp
light. Do you wish to see the affair z"
"Of course | do, " was my answer. Cross
ing one of the numerous bridges which
span the canal, we found ourselves in the
midst of bewildering scene. The long
street was lighted up from end to end by
innumerable japanese lanterns. Before
every shop the wares for sale were dis
played in boxes and in trays, and at every
street corner there were men and women
with stands displaying the most singular
objects of merchandise.
The first shop to which we came was
that of green grocer. The fruit and
vegetables were neatly arranged in fat
trays and baskets. I proceeded at once
to sample the fruit, my appetite being
sharpened for this by long sea voyage.
The biwas, or loquats, were not bad,
though the outside is little woolly and
the inside little stony. The plums,
apricots and peaches proved delusion
and a snare. Though fair of exterior to
the eye, to the tongue they were an abomi-
nation, for the reason that they had been
taken from the trees long before they had
ripened. The custom of plucking the
fruit for market before it is ripe is uni
versai in Japan, and the reason assigned
is the alleged fact that if allowed to re-
main upon the trees until ripe the fruit
would be destroyed by insects.
Besides the fruits mentioned the green
grocer's stall furnished sweet potatoes
and common Irish potatoes, egg plants of
small size, but apparently good quality,
onions, leeks, beets, cucumbers, species
of gourd which is picked, and small,
fiat, dark green squashes, cabbages and
bamboo shoots. The young shoots of
the bamboo are cut off just as they begin
to emerge from the ground as asparagus
is taken with us, and being tender and
succulent, are much esteemed as an arti-
Gle of diet. l tried some stewed bamboo
shoots the other evening and found
,,n,1aIa+o6Io fhoncrh 7
confess, little strange to think of eat
ing cooked fishing rods. Most conspicuous,
however, among the vegetables was the
dai-kon or giant radish. These radishes
attain to huge proportions, especially in
one or two of the southern islands. The
common form is long, and specimens
vary.l ON two to five feet in length, and
from four to ten inches in diameter at the
top. The dai-kOn is variOusly prepared,
but is most commonly sailed down in
brine and allowed to ferment. In this con-
dition it acts as a mild laxative, counter
acting the opposite tendency of the rice
and the tea, which form the staple arti-
Giles of diet among the natives. Ferment-
ed dai-kon is anything but agreeable to
Caucasian nostrils.
From the green-grocer's we wendell
our way to candy store. The japanese
are very fond of confectionery, and their
candies are put up very tastefully in
boxes and papers. My companion di-
rected my attention particularly to a GER
tain form of candy prepared from the
mizu-ami, or syrup extracted from malt
ed rice. BY the process of mailing the
starch in the rice is converted into dex-
trine, and the syrup, which is clear. col
ored like honey and very tough and
viscous in consistency, is extremely nu-
tritious. 1t is in its properties not dis
similar to some of the artificial foods
which are populaIly used among the
Western nations to nourish infants and
invalids. The candy, which in reality
contains no sugar, is quite palatable, and
is exported to Europe and America to
some extent.
Near the confectionery store we found
the tea merchant and close by the dealer
in Japanese lanterns. The florist had
set forth wonderful display of curl
ously dwarfed and grotesquely trained
plants, and beside him, squatting on the
ground was the dealer in japanese katy
dds and fire-fies. The former are sold
in little bamboo cages about four inches
square A cage and its occupants fetch
the modest sum Of ten cents. The dealer
had about one hundred cages in his stand,
and the insects, nothing dismayed by the
crowds and the noise, were keeping up
a cheerful chirping, which sounded like
IOrU bird concert and con ld he heard a